Lieberman-Warner Bill: Dirty energy in the name of climate protection

On the surface, broad-based solutions to global warming appear to be emerging in Congress. But with even a meager scrubbing of the surface, Senators Lieberman and Warner’s “Climate Security Act” (S. 2191) – which is scheduled to be debated on the Senate floor in June – turns out to be perhaps the greatest greenwash of our generation.

Everyone who cares about the climate and a just energy future would do well to take a cold, hard look at the Lieberman-Warner (L-W) bill. It will frame the climate debate in the US for our generation.

If we don’t stop L-W in it’s tracks and go back to the drawing board for real solutions, we risk our bold local efforts for climate protection being trumped and even overturned by deeply misguided and corrupt federal policies. Sadly, most of the national environmental groups are taking a pass on L-W, not publicly taking a strong stand against the bill despite misgivings. At the moment only Friends of the Earth and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service are taking strong stands against the bill. [some weak-willedenvironmentalgroups are even supporting this insane bill!]

The youth climate movement cannot afford to remain neutral and silent on this rapidly moving train. The time for demanding “action” on climate is over, we must define and demand “real action” and speak out against these deadly dangerous distractions.

The revenue from portion of carbon permits that are auction is directed straight back to back to polluters through hundreds of billions of dollars of subsidies to the coal, oil and automobile industries, and nuclear power.

According to an aide to Senator Lieberman, the bill “would be the most historic incentive for nuclear in the history of the US“. It is estimated that throughout various incentives in the bill $500 billion could go to nuclear power.

Carbon permits are given first – before all other auctions – to NEW coal facilities, giving incentive to new coal construction before other forms of energy.

The bills targets are well below what the UN recommends, especially the short term goals: virtually no national reductions in emissions would occur before 2020.